Wednesday, March 26, 2008

I promised to post a photo of the crumb structure (aka "gluten matrix" if you're a bread geek) from my next loaf of sourdough. As several of you pointed out, I never photographed my last sourdough after it was cooled and sliced. Well, here you go. This batch used the same starter, but had a little bit of whole-wheat flour added to the sponge. Bread porn at its finest!

I started using sourdough in about 1964 when a friend gave me a starter that was purported to be 96 years old at the time. I mainly used it for pancakes but gradually moved to bread using several different recipes. Although I got lazy and eventually let my starter go bad, my daughter still has some of it and makes pancakes every Sunday. Anyway, I'm now in the process of trying your method and am really excited!

My husband's aunt actually wrote a sour dough cook book years ago that is pretty fun. She passed away last year (at 90-something), but I think I could probably find a copy if you're interested (my treat, of course).

Hi John, according to my goonie friends at somethingawful's goons with spoons, a more wet dough will allow for bigger air bubbles resulting in a more airy dough. Just thought I'd share this since I'd asked earlier!